Uncultured

On June 12th of 1993 Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, aka M.K.O, won what was recorded as the fairest presidential election in Nigeria’s history. 30 years later in February of 2023, host Deji Osikoya, along with Nigerians across the world, witnessed one of the more compromised democratic presidential elections in the country's history. Joined by writer, media entrepreneur and analyst, Lanre Idowu, the two comb through archives in search of the hope we lost three decades ago.

A crisp 500 naira note on the floor could either mean free money or a new life as a goat. On this episode, host Olamide challenges our superstitions to a face-off with facts. Juju is the colloquial catch-all for the occult but also a synonym for indigenous spirituality. Joined by writer and author of the Afrireligions blog Martha Laraba Sambe, the two crawl through our criminal underbelly, traverse colonial canyons, and climb the fiery mountains of the Pentecost to demystify juju’s reputation as an African villain origin story. Listen as they re-tell our lore without the gaze of the wild wild West.

We all have stories to tell, so every fortnight Ada and Mayowa ply friends with food and drinks in exchange for those stories. It’s group therapy, meets open-mic, meets kickback. Our goal is simple: archiving the Nigerian experience to capture all the nuances of today's culture.Subscribe via Spotify and Apple Podcasts

When VHS tapes filled with low budget flicks flooded the streets of Lagos, Aba and Kano in the early 90’s, they would birth Nollywood - Nigeria’s very own film industry. This episode’s flashback stars Boj, our guide through Nollywood’s theatrical past to its globally acclaimed present. Joined by Anita Eboigbe, co-founder of Inside Nollywood, a newsletter that goes behind the scenes of Nigerian film, the two reminisce on the movies that made the industry. The show will be going on an end of year break. On behalf of the whole Culture Custodian team, here's wishing you all happy holidays. Catch you in the New Year.

From friends to enemies and finally to lovers, the story of Nigeria and Ghana’s rivalry is part classic rom-com and part Western showdown. On this episode Mayowa Idowu travels back in time with Culture Custodian writer Damilola Oyeleke and her uncle Justus Oyeleke to Ghana in 1969, days after over 2 million African migrants were forced out of the country. Years later, Mr Oyeleke watched how Ghanaian migration into Nigeria was followed by a mass expulsion that we would dub ‘Ghana must go’. Follow the trio as they trace how this love-hate story has spanned soccer showdowns, battle of the bands, and Jollof wars. 

For a small fee of 2 million USD only, deposited into this account: 0000000419, Tamara is going to teach you how to become a yahoo boy. The name originally belonged to 90’s internet fraudsters armed with Yahoo email addresses but has evolved into pop culture phenomena both home and abroad. Joined by Chioma Onyenwe, founder of Racounteur productions and producer of true crime podcast 23419 - a docu-series on the infamous imaginary airport salesman Emmanuel Nwude - the two breakdown the origins of a narrative that has cast Nigeria as the protagonist of international cyber crime.